I love cleaning because it totally zones me out...I always feel more centered and calm after I really go for it for an hour or so. and it's surprising how much you can accomplish if you are able to let your mind go while you scour the bathroom floor with a toothbrush. which I do. often.

I once had a new roommate sit me down and ask if I had a meth problem because he caught me cleaning our fridge with a toothbrush...um, oops?

http://www.mylittleapartment.blogspot.com/

I'm not quite that anal but I DO get into one of those tears where I spend half the day scrubbing the damned kitchen from head to toe, pulling out the fridge and the stove and cleaing around and their outsides, getting the floor GOOD etc. When all done, I have a sprarkling clean kitchen. This happens roughly twice yearly although in recent years I've not been that religious about it and it's time to do that again.

Occasionally I'll spend some time going over the bathroom walls as they need attention from time to time and will sometimes spend a good deal of time going through files and either discarding or shredding stuff. Once I did that and got rid of 24 file folders worth of stuff. :-)

I'll often do this with music going the whole time.

President Obama once told 60 Minutes that he found doing dishes meditative. Michelle, seated next to him, looked skeptical. Ah, the married life...

Me, I kinda like washing dishes once I get started. It's such a simple, satisfying task, and the feeling of accomplishment is lovely. Getting myself to do them (in a timely manner) is the problem.

It takes me a long time to get into cleaning.... I'm just usually totally uninterested.

cleaning is totally meditative for me. especially if i'm angry - whew, just give me a great big dirty stack of dishes to scrub.
better than setting the garage on fire, i guess ;)

I don't particularly like doing the dishes, but i do realize that when a problem is nagging me, I manage to work out what i need to do about it over a sink full of sudsy water.

Plus the neat kitchen that results lifts my spirits.

guess that proves my OCD. it's not that i like to clean, but i like things in order. so cleaning up my place does make me feel better after a stressful day.

i love cleaning. having a clean apartment at the end of the day helps me sleep at night.

I scrub when I'm out of sorts and can't calm myself down. My grandmother used the same trick to put herself to sleep by saying, "if I'm not alseep in 10 minutes, I must go clean the kitchen." I guess I don't hate cleaning as much as she did, as my husband has frequently caught me scrubbing walls and cabinets at 3am when I'm too pent up to sleep!

I've always found washing dishes quite comforting -- it's one of my favorite household chores, for sure.

I actually have a little mantra tagged near my kitchen sink that reads, "The Profane is Sacred" ---- it's from a book by Thich Nhat Hanh and is a mantra specifically designed for washing the dishes. I like it as a reminder to be present and enjoy the time.

In general, I sleep more soundly when my place is straightened out. I also love coming home to it tidy...

i try to clean at least once a week. i usually put the EVITA soundtrack (patti lupone, not madonna) on my turntable and sing and dance and do my cleaning. it only takes me about 2 hours to do the whole house and it goes by very quickly. i have it down to a routine and know by the songs which room i am supposed to be cleaning. i start in the kitchen and end in the bathroom. it's very calming to clean and get it out of the way, and then i can sit back and relax in a clean house...

I like to wash other people's dishes in a kitchen with a window looking out at the countryside. For myself, I use a dishwasher.

I can't remember who, but I read someone once who said one should think of washing dishes as "bathing the Buddha"--which makes me laugh.

I also read somewhere else (again, can't remember, sorry) that one can use vacuuming as a test of one's resolve to remain calm. Vacuuming probably is my least favorite chore, and it's difficult for me to get through it without swearing. So now I try to be extra conscious when doing it of keeping the vacuum away from furniture, keeping the cord untangled, using it as an exercise in consciousness. Which is probably why I don't do it very often!!!

Housework is really not for me.

I wish cleaning was like meditation to me.

I used to be the biggest slob and would not clean at all. I hated it. About a year ago something changed, and I suddenly realized how much better I felt to have a sparkling clean house. it seemed like once my house was orderly and calm, my (diagnosed ADHD) mind was orderly and calm. Once I made this correlation, I began to set aside a few hours every weekend to thoroughly clean the house from top to bottom. Very often it is like meditation once I get into it.

a lil bit OT, but am i the only one seeing scientology ad in my feedreader and on this page?

I was going to link to you, but the act of mindfulness I feel is too possible in all people so your first 6 words of sentence 3 was unfortunate. Happy cool aid!